Have you ever heard someone talk about The Gospel of Thomas? Or the “lost” gospel? If you haven't, some day you might. In the last chapter, I talked about my run-in with this book while talking with an antiques dealer specializing in Hindu idols. He was not the first to challenge my belief in the scriptures based on this and similar documents. Nor was he the last. In this chapter, I'd like to talk a little about this “lost gospel” in the event that you run into it.

Thomas was one of the many documents found as part of the Nag Hammadi Library, which was a series of third- or fourth-century manuscripts found in the Nag Hammadi region of Egypt in 1945, one year after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Thomas is one of what are called the four Gnostic gospels, written by the ancient Christian sect, the Gnostics. The Gnostics considered Jesus to be more of a spiritual guide than the Messiah. They denied His bodily resurrection and were considered heretics by the mainstream church.

Rather than try to reinvent the wheel, let me cite what the New American Desk Encyclopedia has to say about Gnosticism:

“[Gnosticism is a] Syncretic religious system of numerous pre-Christian and early heretical Christian sects. A form of dualism, Gnosticism held that matter (created by the Demiurge) is evil and spirit good, and that salvation comes from secret knowledge (gnosis) granted to initiates. A large Gnostic library was found in Egypt in 1945 [the Nag Hammadi Library]. The sources of Gnostic beliefs range from Babylonian, Egyptian, and Greek mythology to the Cabala [a system of Jewish mystical thought, also called the Kabbalah, which looked for mystical interpretations in the Torah] and Zoroastrianism. Gnosticism threatened early Christianity, but declined after the second century A.D.”

If, for salvation, Gnosticism relies on secret knowledge rather than on Jesus' shed blood on the cross, the Jesus of the Gnostics could not be the Jesus of the New Testament. Nor, in The Gospel of Thomas, is He. In Thomas, which claims to be the “secret sayings” of Jesus, our Lord is presented as the incarnation of divine wisdom, a sage, cast — as the introduction puts it — “in the tradition of Buddha.”

His “sayings” present an entirely different gospel and an entirely different god than the one recorded in the New Testament, and its message contradicts the clear, direct teachings of the Jesus of history. Truth cannot exist in the New Testament and The Gospel of Thomas simultaneously.

Not a “New” Gospel — A Different Gospel

Let me give just a few examples of the Gnostic approach to wisdom. In The Gospel of Thomas, when the disciples ask Jesus, “Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms?” Jesus responds, “If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will condemn yourselves, and if you give alms, you will do evil to your spirits” (Saying 14).

This teaching is in direct contradiction to the Bible, which encourages — and, in the case of prayer, stresses — the importance of these things. Indeed, on the issues of fasting, prayer, and alms-giving, the Bible has this to say:

Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you. The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard (Isaiah 58:6-8).

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thess. 5:16-18).

Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys (Luke 12:33).

Hidden “Wisdom”

Not only is the wisdom of Thomas not the wisdom of God, but it is useless even as the wisdom of man. It is, as Gnosticism portrays it, hidden — if there is any wisdom in it at all.

Consider these two sayings:

“And Jesus said, `This heaven will pass away and that which is above it will pass away. The dead are not alive and the living will not die. In the days when you are what is dead, you made it alive. When you come into the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you have become two, what will you do?'” (Saying 11).

“[Jesus' disciples came to Him and said], `If we are children shall we enter the kingdom?' Jesus said to them, `When you make the two one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make the male and the female into a single one, so that the male is not male and the female is not female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, and an image in place of an image, then you shall enter the kingdom” (Saying 22).

Hidden wisdom is right! These statements don't even make logical sense, and they are typical of the “wisdom” of Thomas. They are more like the nonsensical ramblings of the insane. Even the most elementary of meanings of these sayings must be extracted according to the reader's own subjective experience and interpretation. And therein lies the appeal. It is not a sovereign, holy God whose opinions we must value — a God whose perfect, holy law applies to everyone. It is our own opinions, the subjective and relative morality of our own hearts.

Fans of Thomas will argue that, even in the New Testament, Jesus often spoke in parables, stories with hidden meaning, that listeners could not understand. In the sovereignty of God, this is true. However, parables were never nonsensical. They were stories — simple morality tales. Sometimes, God's intended application to spiritual truth was veiled, and when it was, Jesus always revealed it to the disciples at a later time. But never did He allow the meaning to remain obscure to His followers (Mark 4:33).

By contrast, throughout the entire book of Thomas, we see only rambling, disconnected thoughts. If these sayings were intended to communicate wisdom, it will remain a mystery to all but the one who wrote them.

Dangerous Similarity

If Thomas were simply nonsense, that would be one thing. But these writings are similar, in many respects, to the gospels. More than one-third of the sayings in Thomas are based on those found in the New Testament. Instead of seeing the New Testament as the original document upon which this corruption is loosely based, however, some historians claim that this document has the same level of credibility and authenticity as a historical record. Some even date its writing earlier (and therefore consider it to be more historically accurate) than the gospels themselves.

Few — if any — credible historians, however, hold to this view. This is a popular teaching of liberal biblical critics who reject the traditional academic standards for evaluating the historicity of ancient manuscripts for a more subjective, philosophical interpretation. These efforts, spearheaded by the Jesus Seminar, have garnered a lot of mainstream media attention and therefore have created the false impression that they represent mainstream biblical scholarship. In fact, they are a fringe group whose views are rejected by traditional scholars as being largely irrelevant.

Still, the credibility given to these theories in the popular media has created millions of fans. And their superficial similarity to the New Testament teachings makes these documents seem eerily mainstream. Writers such as John Dominic Crossan and Thomas Sheehan have built entire careers cranking out popular books portraying the Jesus of history as a mere man, irregardless of the historical facts, and holding up the Gnostic gospels as legitimate alternatives.

How similar are some of the sayings in Thomas to the New Testament? Here are three that will likely sound familiar to most believers:

“And Jesus said, `Whatever you hear with your ear, preach it in other's ears from your housetops. For no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place. Instead, he sets it on a lampstand so that everyone who comes in and out can see its light'” (Saying 33 — compare to Matt. 5:13-16).

“The disciples said to Jesus, `Tell us, what is the kingdom of heaven like?' He said to them, `It is like a grain of mustard seed, smaller than all seeds. But when it falls on cultivated ground, it puts forth a large branch and provides a shelter for the birds of heaven'” (Saying 20 — compare to Matt. 13:31-32).

“Recognize what is in front of your face, and what is concealed will be revealed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed” (Saying 5 — compare to Matt. 10:26).

The sayings of Thomas are not identical to the scriptures on which they are based, but they are close enough to mislead the unwary into believing that they are of the same nature; and yet their meaning is changed just enough to turn godly wisdom into heresy. Other sayings closely parallel the parable of the fisherman who cast out his net, the sower who went out to sow, a man who cannot serve two masters, and a good tree that cannot bear thistles and thorns. Many of these teachings are blended, not only with Gnosticism, but with Eastern philosophy, Greek mythology, and ancient fables.

Could The Gospel of Thomas, in fact, be closer to the source and therefore more credible than the New Testament? No. Not only do we have the historical record to tell us that the New Testament documents are highly reliable, but Thomas is a late document, written by someone who did not know Jesus, and whose writings contradict the New Testament at every turn. While Gnostic heresies began to creep into Christianity as early as the apostolic churches, Gnostic writings did not appear on the scene until much later, well after the New Testament had been written. And clear, defined writings like Thomas did not arise until more than one hundred years later.

Is Thomas Harmless?

Couldn't it be argued that The Gospel of Thomas is simply a set of harmless ramblings? A silly book that Christians can ignore? Absolutely not. Thomas, along with the other “lost gospels,” is being presented as containing the authentic sayings of Jesus, which are used to cast doubt on the credibility of New Testament theology. Not only this, but they have gained millions of followers who accept these teachings as a replacement for the New Testament. Thomas undermines Jesus' deity, His resurrection, and His teachings on salvation and man's relationship to God. It should accurately be placed on the list of cultic teachings like any other false religion.

Consider, for example, that Thomas promises readers salvation by embracing its version of Gnostic knowledge:

“Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death” (Saying 1).

“The disciples said to Jesus, `Tell us how our end will come.' Jesus said, `Have you discovered the beginning, that you search for the end? In the place where the beginning is, there the end will be. Blessed is he who will stand at the beginning: He will know the end and will not taste death'” (Saying 18).

“Blessed is he who existed before he was created. If you become my disciples and hear my words, these stones shall serve you. For there are five trees in paradise that do not change in summer or winter and whose leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them shall not taste death” (Saying 19).

These are not harmless ramblings. This is another gospel, a false gospel, offering false promises of salvation to those who would believe. While the Jesus of Thomas directs the reader to a “spiritual existence,” it is a self-directed spiritual existence, one that does not require the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. It is one found by asceticism and self-reflection.

This, writes John Dominic Crossan (a member of the Jesus Seminar) in his introduction to Thomas, is the “real” teaching of Jesus. “In The Gospel of Thomas, we meet Jesus before he was Christ, before the centuries of infighting and ecclesiastical embellishment that created today's semi-mythical figure,” he says. “Here is Jesus as a sage, the personification of Wisdom, cast in the tradition of King Solomon or Buddha, a humble man with a powerful message.” [1]

A powerful message? Woe to the poor soul who seeks to find salvation by unraveling the ramblings of Thomas!

In light of such teaching, the circulation of books such as The Gospel of Thomas should be a concern to evangelical Christians. It is Christianity without sin. It is Buddhism in the name of Jesus. What a perfect blend for those who yearn for self-lordship but feel guilty about abandoning the Jesus of their roots! “I am not your master,” says the Jesus of these Gnostic documents. “Simply understand My sayings and you shall not taste death.”

This is the Siren's Call of Thomas. At the time I purchased the book, it was among the most popular books for sale on Amazon.com.

Not the Gospel of History

So how can Christians respond to the claims that books like The Gospel of Thomas are legitimate records of Jesus' teachings? I will not attempt to go into detail because there are many excellent books on this subject, including Are the New Testament Documents Reliable? by F. F. Bruce; Evidence That Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell, and two of my personal favorites: The Case for Christ, by Lee Stroebel, and The Historical Jesus, by Gary Habermas. But I will give my answer in a nutshell.

First, the New Testament documents are reliable because of their early date. The overwhelming majority of academic historians, both secular and nonsecular, date the writing of the New Testament documents to within one generation of the events they record. None place them later than the turn of the second century. The origin of the famous creed in 1 Cor. 15:3-8, which attests to the eyewitness accounts of the resurrection of Christ, is dated even earlier. It is dated to within two to three years of the resurrection itself.

Writes the Apostle Paul:

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas (Peter), then by the twelve. After that, He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that, He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all, He was seen by me (1 Cor. 15:3-8).

Second, the New Testament documents are eye-witness accounts, or were written by close associates of eye-witnesses, a fact on which historians place an extremely high value. Writes Peter, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32). Similar statements are made in Acts 3:15, Acts 5:32, and Acts 10:39. In fact, the eye-witness testimony was the basis of belief in the early church.

Finally, all of the fundamental teachings of Jesus are verified by independent sources, both secular and nonsecular — from His claims to be God to His resurrection from the dead. When Jesus' miracles, claims to His deity, His resurrection, and His most basic teachings are verified by secular, often hostile, sources, we can confidently cast The Gospel of Thomas aside.

What Shall We Do?

With so much assurance that the New Testament documents are reliable, books such as The Gospel of Thomas must be seen for what they are: early interpretations based on the original manuscripts that give us valuable insights into the dynamics of the early church, its opposition, and infiltrating heresies, but nothing more. However, evangelical Christians should not dismiss them either. By telling us that “the kingdom of God is within us,” and that salvation can be attained by asceticism and self-reflection, these gospels lead readers down the path to destruction.

As King Solomon wrote: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the way of which is death” (Proverbs 14:12). If we can confront heresy when it arises, James tells us that we may “save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).

The Jesus of history taught that we are sinners, separated from God through our sin, and that the wages of sin is death. The Jesus of history taught that He came to fulfill the hundreds of Messianic prophecies that foretold a Messiah who, because of His unfathomable love for us, would pay the price for our sins with His own death. The Jesus of history fulfilled these prophecies by dying on the cross at Calvary. Then He rose from the grave, proving His power over death, and only by accepting His tremendous sacrifice for our sins can we be reconciled to God and achieve eternal salvation.

The Gospel of Thomas is the wisdom of man. The Gospel of Jesus is the wisdom of God.

Footnotes

[1] The Gospel of Thomas: Unearthing the Lost Words of Jesus, trans. John Dart and Ray Riegert, Introduction by John Dominic Crossan (Seastone Publishers, 2000).

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